The Election in review

Yesterday's elections produced some intriguing results. I've read a number of columns and listened to some of the pundits, so I thought I would summarize what I am hearing and offer some of my own thoughts on this matter:

1. Virginia was a behind-the-woodshed a*#whoopin'. The margins of victory were embarrassing - it was as if the Florida Gators showed up to play Richmond Girls School of the Blind. Double digit victories in all the top races. The central area of the state that had gone for Obama in the election was solidly back in the red camp.

2. New Jersey was a behind-the-woodshed a*#whoopin'. Though the margins were significantly smaller than Virginia, turning NJ red is an amazing feat. Those poor folks are sick and tired of the corruption and high taxes. This is the victory that proves Obama's coat tails are quite short - he spent a lot of time campaigning here for naught.

3. New York 23 was a disappointment. It was a lost opportunity. The Democrat's victory in a district that has been held by the Republicans forever, is sad - one more vote for Pelosicare. But this should stand as a lesson to the Republican party everywhere - choose your candidate carefully! Scozzafava was a deeply flawed candidate from the beginning - her bizarre dropping out and endorsement of the Democrat Owens should go down as one of the great betrayals in recent political history. The conservative candidate, Hoffman, ran out of time...the trend line was definitely his and without Scozzy on the ticket, he might have pulled it out. Endorsements by the Republican glitterati like Palin and Thompson were helpful, but not enough to pull this chestnut out of the fire of party division.

4. Each of these elections are still driven by local issues, but the common thread of people revolting against ever increasing levels of debt (and the taxes that will follow) and incumbency should give both parties cause for concern. Though it is a happier day for the right than a year ago, it is not time to stop. They were on the receiving end of this type of treatment in the 2006 election.

5. Social conservatism still wins. The gay marriage initiative in Maine went down to defeat just as it has in 31 other states. Leftards will try to spin this as "conservatives hate gays," but that is simply false. The old adage that your rights end when your "elbow hits my nose," applies here. "Marriage" is an institution that forms the backbone of a stable family and is the cornerstone of civilized society. Water that down and where does it stop? Boy and boy, girl and girl, boy and cat, girl and dog? This is a firewall that will continually be assaulted, but upon which conservatives will be willing to stand every time. Enough!

6. Though on the ascendancy again, the conservative movement has a long way to go. While the core of our message doesn't change, our delivery needs to me constantly refined and we must reject the attempts the statists make to define us. There is no time nor room for gloating. Conservatives must be careful to not overstate their mandate in the same way the Obama people did last year. Those clowns actually thought the American people (swing vote) had bought into a new socialist nirvana...no, they were angry at Bush, scared of the economy and they actually believed Obama when he ran on such conservative principles as:

- Victory in Afghanistan

- No increase in taxes

- Jobs!!

- Teacher accountability

He didn't seem like the liberal crazy he's turned out to be. Liberals know they can't get elected on their core principles - deception is the only way in.

In sum though, there are some themes that still define the American public:

a) It is still a center right nation. This is validated by numerous polls - most recently Gallup's numbers that put the number of people that define themselves as "conservative" at about 40% - those that said "liberal" less than 20%.

b) This is a nation deeply agitated about the state of the economy, the joblessness and the general direction of the country.

If the Republicans can regain their swagger as a result of last night it will be a good thing. But much work needs to be done. This is a baby step, but it is in the right direction. Conservatism is about freedom - the right kind of freedom. Statists offer a freedom from responsibility and consequences. Conservatives offer freedom of the human mind and of the individual...we need to continue to make that message clear.

The Three Horsemen of Political Apocalypse: Ignorance, Apathy, and Arrogance

By now, you have probably seen this photo. It is the state legislature in Connecticut in session. To the right a gentleman is standing and speaking. No one is paying attention to him...we see two games of solitaire in progress, one baseball game and one screen looks a bit like Facebook. This is what political discourse has devolved to in our nation. These folks in Connecticut just happened to get caught. Most state legislatures that I have seen have a laptop issued when you take office, this could just as easily been Tennessee, Maryland or Utah. It could be Washington D.C., for that matter, but they generally a) don't take their laptops into session and b) barely know how to use them.

Part of the problem is the society we live in. The laptop, though it is a phenomenally powerful tool, has become another layer in many human relationships. Kids (and now adults) don't talk to each other, they text or Facebook or Twitter. The understanding and growth that happens when two people discuss a topic face to face does not occur. Seeing the nuance in a facial expression is lost. I see it in the classroom on both sides of the divide. Professors who have prepared lectures in PowerPoint years ago, no longer teach - they work their way through the PowerPoint. Students no longer sit in class and consider what the Professor is teaching, digest the material and write notes. At the college level and above and now many high schools, the students, armed with their laptops, are filling in the blank on the PowerPoint slides at best...at worst, they are acting like state legislatures. In this weird way, these legislators are acting, well, just like us.

But at the political level, we are dealing with an ossified party system and a set of people that, with few exceptions, no longer do this to serve the people...think Nancy Pelosi. Rather, to be elected in America today, is to join a class of people and begin the pre-set scrimmage of saying what your party leaders want you to say - the daily talking points...then go play solitaire on their laptops. The step-children of this mindset of apathy are ignorance and arrogance. Bear with me and watch Exhibit A:

Now, I know what you are thinking: "did he really just say that being greater in debt means you have a higher net worth?" That's the ignorance part. The arrogance part is when he goes on to suggest that his interlocutor didn't graduate from a decent enough university. (In the world of liberwocky, wouldn't that count for being anti-Hispanic? The university scoffingly maligned is the University of Puerto Rico.

What happened this past summer, the "Summer of Outrage," is that national sentiment, everyday Americans, boiled over. It was, on the whole, a mild summer (at least here in normally sweltering fever-swamp humid Tennessee), but tempers flared as years of putting up with it came pouring out. If you watch the videos of the various town hall meetings, some common threads emerge:

a) the citizens know much more about the subject matter than the Congresspeople.

b) the Congresspeople generally looked amazed - they have that look of surprise that a kid in a classroom might get when the Professor suddenly appears behind them and catches them playing solitaire on their laptop.

c) the citizenry is mad.

We are reaching a dangerous point in this country, where Congress had better be darned careful about pushing too hard. I say this apolitically too - people are just as mad at the 'Phants as they are at the Donks. I will say that our local Congresswoman, Marsha Blackburn, is a pretty big exception to the rule. I attended her town hall, and it was more of a love-fest - she is serving her constituency and listening to what they have to say. Unlike the vast majority of these folk who are NOT listening to their constituency and playing solitaire on their laptops. In it's arrogance, Congress has forgotten that they serve the people, not the other way around. And they have forgotten that they need the people. Not just for votes either, but for information. Some years ago, I used to lobby in Washington on an annual basis on behalf of the multi-family industry. I saw first hand the arrogance of an ossified legislator when we visited with Senator Jim Sasser (Remember him, Mr. "Deyafaceyet"? Face to face, he knew how to say the word in three syllables.) - in front of us, his chief of staff reviewed the contribution list. When it was apparent that the "Greater Nashville Apartment Association" wasn't on the list, Senator Sasser got up and walked out. No, he didn't say "got to run," or "see you later..." he said nothing, simply nodded, got up and walked out. I saw the apathy in numerous meetings with Senators and Congressmen who would sit in our short meetings and clean their nails....and don't get me started on the ignorance!

One particularly enlightening meeting took place with then Representative Van Hilleary. He had listened quite attentively as we ticked off our list of concerns. At one point, I apologized that it seemed we were "opposed to everything that was going on." He quickly stopped me and said "No apology necessary." He reached behind his desk and hoisted a stack of paper onto his desk that was about a foot and a half high. He then pulled a small stack of index cards from his shirt pocket - looked for a matching number then said: "You see this stack of paper? That's a bill. You see this index card? That's all I know about this bill. If you are not involved in the process, reading this stuff, God only knows what will get passed."

This is why we have to be engaged. Van Hilleary was only being honest. It would be physically impossible for any representative to read all the fine print in the bills, especially when they get marked up and hustled down to the floor minutes before a vote. If your Congressman or Senator tells you they have read the bill, they are probably lying. But they are arrogant enough to believe you will never call them on it. But they no longer serve you. Once they make it to Washington for the first time, many with the noblest of intentions, they become part of the system - a system, that sadly has become a machine for self aggrandizement and re-election. Play along with the system and the party doesn't run an opposing candidate in your district and you get lots of campaign cash to throw around...to say nothing of some nice fat slabs of bacon for your peeps back home. Be noble, try to rise above the fray and do what is right and you face destruction. The benefits of playing along lead to a rise in apathy. The longevity of this apathetic embrace of office lead to a shutdown of the brain, to ignorance and eventually to arrogance. They lead to Pete Stark telling a reporter with a reasonable question to "get the f**k out of my office."

Echoing Tolstoy, "what then must we do?" I offer the following five part program for returning our system of governance to its noble purpose:

1. Term limits - Thomas Jefferson famously said that the "tree of liberty must from time to time be refreshed with the blood of tyrants and patriots." Term limits is a non-violent means of achieving that infusion of fresh blood. We, no they, have lost what it means to serve - this can only be restored when the job becomes something you do at a point in your life, not a career. There are groups out there, like U.S. Term Limits, that are actively advocating term limits - get involved!

2. Engagement - Obama keeps issuing these calls to service...here's one. Serve your country by being engaged in the political process. Most of what our Congress sees is available on line. Be a citizen - read the bills and educate your neighbors about it. Then educate your Congressperson and Senators. Write letters, e-mails, get to know the staff. The passion of the Summer of Outrage will fade, but this nation needs a core of engaged people of both political persuasions to stay on top of the legislation. Engage the local media too - they are just as apathetic, ignorant and arrogant as the folks in Washington...time for a wake up call!

3. Education - Start a program of civic education at home with your own children. What they teach in the schools is by and large rubbish. They are taught all about multi-culturalism and diversity while completely ignoring the great accomplishments that this nation has produced. They certainly learn nothing about basic economics...if they did, and they got a look at the national debt, our school children would weep for what we have done to them. Take the time to review your child's textbooks if you want to get a scary look at what is being taught.

4. Define the Debate - whether it is capitalism, climate change or healthcare, radicals are very good at declaring the crisis and presenting a solution before any consensus is even reached on what the problem is. I have written here and over at the Rumbler Report, numerous times that conservatives and independents need to do a better job of understanding our opponents and forcing them to slow down and define their terms. The so-called health care crisis, for example, can be pretty easily picked apart if you force them to prove their assertions about "48 million uninsured," or the doozies like Obama's assertions that physicians will ghoulishly "chop off a leg" or "extract a tonsil," just for profit. Liberals don't like debates, facts scare them.

5. Attitude - approach this task of taking back our nation with happiness. We are doing good works! Think about Ronald Reagan's cheery approach to the darkest of times and the reassurance he gave us that it was still "morning in America," and that our "best days were yet to come." That spirit of optimistic conservatism is contagious. Along with the spirit, we have to offer solutions when real problems are identified. Do it with gusto, whether it is the economic benefits of free markets, or the increase in revenues that occur when you cut taxes and generate job growth, have fun skewering statist radicals with the facts!

I am not going to kid you that our task is easy. These are dark times (oh Lord, will an Anonymous liberal commenter tag me for a racist, insensitive remark?) ; I, for one, do not believe in Pete Stark's philosophy that greater debt is better. I can show him very calmly in any copy of "Economics for Dummies," that such is not the case - we cannot spend our way to surplus. But in this winter, I believe, the seeds of a new beginning are being sown. I believe in our hardship, Americans are rediscovering simple virtues like family and frugality. Anecdotally, I am noticing more bodies in the pews of our church. I get the sense that America has come to the brink of the socialist abyss, stared into that dark pit and seen the ruins of the Canadian and British healthcare systems, the starry eyed cult children of North Korea and Nazi Germany and we are repulsed. Perhaps we are reconnecting with the notion that there is something exceptional about being Americans In the words of Reagan, concluding his first Inaugural Address:

"The crisis we are facing...does require, however, our best effort, and our willingness to believe in ourselves and to believe in our capacity to perform great deeds; to believe that together, with God's help, we can and will resolve the problems which confront us. And after all, why shouldn't we believe that? We are Americans."

Let's do this.

Rumble on!

CIA Morale

Here's a job for you:

1. Move overseas and pretend to be someone you are not. In particular, it would be great if you would move to such scenic countries as Pakistan, Russia or perhaps China.

2. Live there for 3-5 years establishing yourself as a "trade representative" of a major corporation from the United States, or perhaps, a visa officer at the local U.S. Consulate.

3. Befriend local officials and business leaders. Educate them on why you think that the United States' position towards their country is OK, but could be a lot better if only their country would work with us more.

4. After months of hard work, ask one of your new "friends" for some information about their company (could be an industrial manufacturer, could be a shipbuilder, could be a company involved in securing raw materials for their nation, etc.). Your request initially will be small, but over time, it will grow. You will want details and your "friend," will have begun to trust you...after all, nothing bad is happening.

5. Reveal to your friend that you work for the Central Intelligence Agency and that if they will help you get the mother lode of targeted information, you will whisk them out of their country and get them a new life in the land of milk and honey, aka, the United States.

6. Carry out your mission and return to the United States for a down cycle stateside. Bring your "friend" out at the same time and help him get a new life.

7. Bask in the knowledge that you have foiled a potential enemy's plans to do harm to your native land.

8. Get subpoenaed to appear before a Congressional sub-committee on intelligence that is looking into allegations that you might have been "harsh" with a contact or two while you were overseas trying to accomplish your mission.

9. Thousands of dollars in legal fees later, return to your job at the CIA at Langley.

10. Get subpoenaed by Eric Holder at the Justice Department who is looking intoallegations that you might have been "harsh" with a contact or two while you were overseas trying to accomplish your mission.

11. Watch as your "friend" is exposed and deported back to his native land. A youtube video two months later confirms he was sentenced to hard labor and died in a prison camp. Have THAT on your conscience.

12. Thousands of dollars in legal fees later, get sentenced to 10 years at Leavenworth for breaking a "protocol" that has been retroactively instated.

13. Watch loons from the Democrat party run to the press and crow about how "justice has finally been done!!"

14. As you are cuffed and being placed in the van to take you to the airport for your ride to Kansas, see President Obama on the TV screen saying it was out of his hands.

15. Know, sadly, that across the globe, thousands of agents, just like you are no longer pursuing their missions - they got the message from this Administration. America is exposed.

Rumbling sadly on.

Keynesian Clunkers

Zero Hedge has an excellent analysis of the economics of the "Cash for Clunkers" program that just got another $3 Billion of OUR money. Basically, the program is encouraging more personal debt and lathering on another heaping Cinnabon of debt onto the Federal err, taxpayers, books.

The Cinnabon of Debt!

From the article:

The $28,000 average price per car translates into a total sale value of $21 billion. Of that amount $3b will be borrowed by Treasury, the balance of $18b will be financed by the new owners.

A month from now the new payments will hit both households and Treasury. For Treasury the cost is $90 million a year. Just $7.5mm per month. Think of it as $7.5mm a month forever. For the households who are driving nice new cars the numbers are much worse.

If buyers finance their purchase with 8% money and a five-year payback the monthly nut for these cars is $375 million. Nearly $5b a year. The owners will have a fully paid asset at the end of the five years, but they have to pay for it in full. It comes to $500 per person each month on a fully loaded basis.

What? You mean it's not good to have another coupon book you have to pull and pay every month?

Over indebted consumers nearly killed us last year. CC’s, crazy mortgages, store cards, car loans you name it. We are not out of trouble yet from our debt binge. For the government to be crafting ‘solutions’ that just put another $18 billion of debt onto consumers is bad policy.

Simply put, this represents more flawed (panicked?) thinking on the part of our Democratic Masters, uh I mean, leaders, to jump-start the economy. Damned the cost! Full speed ahead. I have never been a big fan of Keynesian Theory - when I studied economics in the late 1970's, the theory was in the process of being completely discredited. But if you are going to do it, can't you at least do it right?

Yes, there may never have been such a "marriage of beauty and brains as that of Lopokova andJohn Maynard Keynes," but what we have right now is the marriage of socialism and power consolidation and it ain't pretty. But what the heck - we can all still afford a Cinnabon can't we? I sure hope so:

Rumble on!

"Reform" does not mean "Improvement"

I noticed in the daily "Pravda on the Cumberland," aka The Tennessean the recurring theme this week: Everyone wants healthcare reform! Today's pulp was about county commissioners wanting "reform," complete with a nice picture of Kathleen Sebelius on a giant screen TV talking to the huddled masses in convention here in Nashvegas. The commissioners are concerned about the rising costs of healthcare, particularly indigent and prisoner care. Fair enough...the bills being bantered about in Congress, all touting "reform," do nothing for these issues.

C'mon people, "REFORM" does not mean "IMPROVEMENT!" This is a case where words can literally kill. Congressional fear of voting against "REFORM!" could kill the finest health care system in the world. The system being proposed will kill senior citizens, or at least guaranty an earlier grave. Is this the "REFORM!" Americans want? Gallup reported last week that by 50% to 44% Americans DISapprove of the way Obama is handling health care. Only 23%, according to Rasmussen, believe costs will go down. The sentiment seems to be there to do something, but not what is proposed.

Here's a starting point: agree on what the proposed legislation should achieve, then apply that metric to whatever gets proposed. The Iowa Committee, a group formed by the non-partisan Concord Coalition has a good starting point. Here are their "principles:"

Principle #1: Fiscal sustainability: The Committee feels strongly that rapid health care cost growth makes our current health care system fiscally unsustainable. We cannot pretend that resources are unlimited or that sure and swift savings will come from investments in comparative effectiveness research, health care technology and prevention programs.

Principle #2: Innovation through Collaboration: The Committee feels strongly that the future of health care will require a new level of innovation that can be best achieved by high-levels of formal and informal collaborations among all health care stakeholders.

Principle #3: Primary Care Transformation: The Committee feels strongly that elevating the role and use of primary care—and the ability to more effectively coordinate with acute-care specialty services and long-term or community-based care—is essential for the transformation of our health care system.

Principle #4: Societal Commitment to Prevention and Wellness: The Committee feels strongly that prevention and wellness must be included in governmental and business policy reform and third-party coverage arrangements.

Principle #5: Engaged and Responsible Health Care Consumers: The Committee feels strongly that health reform initiatives should encourage and set expectations for a more active role for the health care consumer.

I would add a few other principles:

#6: If you are happy with your health care, you do not have to do anything.

#7: No one can force you to change doctors, plans etc.

#8: Health care plans should be portable and should allow for pre-existing conditions.

#9: As it relates to the REALLY uninsured, i.e. not the people who choose not to have health care insurance, the illegal aliens, the self insured, a low cost catastrophic health coverage plan should be the goal.

#10: Minimize the costs of Doctor's malpractice insurance through tort reform.

Consensus on a starting point could lead to genuine health care reform that solves legitimate issues like higher costs and tends to the needs of those that truly cannot help themselves. Noble aims for a noble society, NOT a Federal takeover of an enormous (and growing) part of our economy. The current legislation being proposed is designed to put politicians and their cronies in charge of an enormous piggy bank from which to reward those that tend to them. That is truly sick.

Rumble on!

Cross Posted at Red State Rumblings

Oh Freedom

Happy Independence Day! Happy 233rd birthday for our Republic. I was thinking about that wonderful negro spiritual this morning that gives this piece it's title:

Oh Freedom! Oh freedom! Oh freedom over me

And before I ‘ll be a slave I’ll be buried in my grave

And go home to my Lord and be free.

Will this be our last "Independence Day?" With all the legislation being written in Congress and the quiet acquiescence of the American people we may have to change the name of our national holiday to "Dependence Day." But now, a prayer.

On this Independence Day, I pray the spirit that made America what she is today. This is a spirit embodied in the very document that we celebrate today; a document, which is arguably the most inspirational piece of parchment in the world - the statement of natural, God-endowed law: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights." In the same sentence, self-evident truths and our endowment by a Creator are acknowledged. This is a humility that is sadly missing today - it acknowledges our debt to a superior being and it plainly sets out the belief that there are things which are indisputable, not subject to the whims of interpretation or cultural nuance. We focus on the "men are created equal" part, but ignore the brackets put around that equality. The authors of the Declaration and the men who signed it were putting down a marker for the world - a statement of justice and equality heretofore dispensed by Kings and Emporors but now to be guarded by our fellow, equal man. With this comes the responsibility of guardianship that has been passed down to us.

"Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness," are also well known pieces of this noble document. But later in the same paragraph come these words - the words that gave the document it's name:

That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

On this July 4th, we have to ask ourselves very carefully whether the present-day government, "instituted among men," has become destructive of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." In the Executive Branch, we have a chief executive who has surrounded himself with 18 (Eighteen!!) "Czars," responsible for everything from energy to drugs. These "czars" are completely unaccountable. There is no method of Congressional approval (remember "checks and balances?"), no oversite...bupkus. Yet, these "czars" have enormous authority through Presidential decree to tell us everything from our credit card interest rate to what kind of light bulbs we should use. Where is the American spirit of independence that bridles at such excesses and autocracy? "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness" do not stem from teleprompted orations such that we are entitled to them at the approval of the White House - they come from the "Creator." We can therefore argue that this government HAS become "destructive of these ends," and needs to be changed. Read the list of grievances that our Founding Fathers laid out in the Declaration against King George III and with a little change of syntax and slight adjustment of verbage - a hell of a lot of them apply to this King, err, President:

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

Well, he hasn't tried to dissolve state houses yet, but see how Rick Wagoner got treated at General Motors and you might get a hint of how he will deal with California.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

This is going the other way, but immigration "reform," is on his To Do List with the aim of naturalizing hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens and creating a Democrat voter bloc for the next 15 years.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

Take a look at how Eric Holder handled the Black Panther voter abuse case in Philadelphia or how they want to unload Gitmo terrorists into our legal system and you get the flavor of a modern "Assent to Laws."

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.

Do you spell the word "Czar" or "Tsar?"

The list could go on, but it would take up too many gigabytes. What's sad is the lack of total outrage. There is some...to be sure, we see it at the "Tea Parties" which are growing in number and in attendance. But blatant usurpation of power and a total flaunting of the Constitution should get our revolutionary spirit really riled up!

And now, with looming "cap and trade" taxation increases and socialized medicine, we stand on the threshold of losing free choice in total surrender to a care-taker state that manages our lives from cradle to grave. Come revolutionary spirit, come - awaken the masses of patriots who are simply too busy to pay attention.

We are in the eye of the storm folks, but it is never too late to let freedom ring!

Rumble on!

Breaking up is hard to do...

There is a very interesting piece over at the Weekend Edition of the Wall Street Journal this morning titled "Divided We Stand." The author, Paul Starobin, sketches out a possible future for the United States as a loosely knit group of republics with even some geographic boundaries obliterated. For example, "Cascadia," would be a new regional republic carved out of the Pacific Northwest cities of Portland, Seattle and Vancouver, Canada (wait till after the Winter Olympics!). "Calibaja" would turn San Diego into the capital of Northwest Mexico, Baja and a large chunck of Southern California.

What is interesting about this is the frighteningly real possibility that this could happen. We have an imperial government in Washington D.C. now that in just six months has:

1. Violated all precepts of contractual law invalidating hundreds of years of case law.
2. Unconstitutionally seized control of a large piece of the manufacturing sector.
3. Unconstitutionally seized a large part of the capital market structure.
4. Ignored qualifying norms (like paying taxes) for high level officials.
5. Delved into private property, entrepreneurial capitalism and all aspects of commerce without right.
6. Mortgaged the futures of our children and their children.
7. Is attempting to seize control of our healthcare system.
8. Ignored the counsel of military leaders on what measures (like missile defense) are necessary to keep us safe.

The list goes on and on...we are drowning in debt we cannot pay and this is just the beginning! I know a lot of my friends are reading "Atlas Shrugged," and begining to feel like Galt. I'm increasingly feeling like a colonist in the 1770's - no taxation without representation! Washington has truly become Leviathan and we all (both political stripes) feel powerless. I love my country and desperately want her to succeed and stay together, but increasingly, I feel we have a tyrannical government and that the only way we will bring those idiots on the Potomac to heel is to consider secession and separation into distinct regions.

In the near term, this could bring some peace to the social wars too. If you want to live in a land where gay marriage, infanticide, socialized medicine and euthanasia rock your boat - move to Novacadia or Calivada. If you want religion to be allowed in the public square, low taxation and personal freedom, Texas, Kentennalageorge or Virgicarol will welcome you. Then, in these smaller, more efficient republics we will see which system really does work better for the long haul. We would have to work out some commercial rules for travel and trade between the republics and we would have to have some form of military sharing for mutual defense, but those are details that could be worked out.

My guess is, the period of republican devolution would last about 50 years. It will take two generations of pure socialism and liberal social anarchy in Novacadia and Calivada for them to come to grips with the fact that it doesn't work. Then maybe we could all get along again. Maybe.

If this sounds like fantasy, perhaps it is. But this time, one year ago, if you had told me that a U.S. hating, mixed-race racist with a resume thinner than a communion wafer would be sitting in the Oval Office I would have told you "no way." I think the election of 2010 will be a real windvane for the direction this country wants to go. If we have reached the point where those who pay the taxes are in the minority to those who receive the benefits therefrom, secession could become quite popular.

Rumble on!

Cross posted at The Rumbler Report .